Maturity
by The GirlieGyarados
Summary: Ash evolves Pikachu. Please read before you flame. Chapter 2. Ooh, shiny....
1. Houndoom

Maturity  
***  
  
A/N: I never thought the day would come when I actually wrote a story about the idiot and his electric rat. ::shudders:: But this fic is sort of a response to all the people who see a fiction in which Pikachu is/becomes a Raichu and scream about Ash never ever going to evolve Pikachu. Yes, people, Ash would evolve Pikachu. I'll show you.  
  
Disclaimer: Okay, the thing right back there says 'Disclaimer'. It does not say 'Claimer'. What can you infer from that?!  
***  
  
"Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!"  
  
"P'ka-CHUUUUUUUU!!"  
  
A yellow bolt of electric energy arced towards the Machamp. The trainer yelled frantically for the pokemon to get away, even though he knew it was hopeless; his slow pokemon couldn't move fast enough. Even as the Machamp tensed to jump away, the Thunderbolt caught it square in it's massive chest.  
  
The Machamp jerked and twitched as the electricity ran through it's body. When the voltage was finally shut off, it fell to the earth unconscious, still twitching as a current of electricity ran through it. The Machamp smelt of burning flesh and fabric; smoke curled off its' once proud form.   
  
The trainer quickly recalled the unconscious pokemon as Ash whooped with joy. Brock and Misty looked on approvingly, Togepi uttering some baby-talk every now and then.   
  
This is not part of the 'Johto Journeys' saga. After winning the Johto league, Ash had returned to high school, still training on the side. He was now sixteen, and was on winter vacation. Deciding to go to Johto, since it's pleasantly balmy there even in winter time, Ash had called on all three of his old companions to go on vacation with him in the most glamourous four-star hotal in Goldenrod City. (He and Misty, of course, shared a room ::wink wink nudge nudge:: };) ). Tracey couldn't make it, he said something about a Joy-full vacation in a rather suggestive tone; Ash had decided to pursue the subject no further. However, Brock and Misty were thrilled to go, especially since Ash was paying, So now, they were on the first day of their vacation, in which Ash (I mean, Misty. Heaven forbid Ash do anything on his own...) had decided to visit the National Park. And in the Park, a trainer who called himself Raul had decided to challenge Ash, and as we all are well aware, Ash just doesn't back down from a challenge.  
  
"RRgh!" Raul groaned in frustration. He only had one pokemon left. "GO HOUNDOOM!" Raul threw the pokeball, opening and revealing, in a flash of pale red light, a tall and rather vain-looking Houndoom. Ash, Brock and Misty had uttered a collective gasp at the sight of this very rare, very powerful pokemon, waiting for Ash to make his move.   
  
Which was, of course, to consult Dexter. As Ash listened closely, the clear mechanical voice spelled out:  
  
"Houndoom. The Dark Pokemon. This canine pokemon is commonly referred to as the Hellhound pokemon, or the hellfires beast, presumably because of it's tremendous fire attacks. It is an intelligent, nocturnal pack hunter, and can be found with it pre-evolution, Houndour. It is weak against Fighting, Water, Ground, and Rock attacks, as it's type is Fire/Dark."  
  
Ash thought furiously as the Houndoom swelled with pride at the Pokedex description of it. His only real pokemon with a type advantage, Totodile and Heracross, had been effectively disable by this guy's ChinChou and Girafarig. The other pokemon he had, Chikorita, Bulbasaur, and Cyndaquil, were both at a type disadvantage to this creature. It seemed the best thing for him to do would be to keep Pikachu out.  
  
"Hey Pikachu!" Ash called. "You can take this preening pokemon, right?" As the Houndoom snorted in indignation, Pikachu uttered a confident-sounding "KA!-chuu! Pikapi!"  
  
Ash's smile widened, he hadn't bothered to check the level of this Houndoom, but he knew his Pikachu was at a really high level, around level 45 or so. Probably higher. Even without a type advantage, he was confident he could win.  
  
"Pikachu! Try Thunderbolt!"  
  
"Houndoom, use Faint Attack, then Pursuit!"  
  
Pikachu charged up and fired the Thunderbolt. However, to everyone's surprise (everyone's except Raul, of course), Houndoom had vanished before the Thunderbolt was even halfway there. Everyone except Raul gasped in shock (no pun intended). Ash gritted his teeth. Not only was this Houndoom surprisingly fast, but his trainer was an excellant strategist. Faint Attack would never miss, and Pikachu couldn't defend against it with another attack. And if it tried to run, than the combined Pursuit would hit Pikachu even harder. The best thing that Pikachu could do would be to weather the blow, then strike back as quickly as it could. "Brace yourself, Pikachu!" he called out to Pikachu. "Be ready to Thundershock it as soon as you can, Pikachu!"  
  
The only indication Pikachu gave that it had heard was to curl up tightly and shut it's eyes allowing little sparks to fly from it's cheeks as it charged up.  
  
Ash hadn't given the warning a second too soon. No sooner were the words were out of his mouth, than the ghostly outline of the Houndom knocked Pikachu flying, and it appeared above Pikachu, and with the blowing, rushing sound that characterized Pursuit, used that attack to knock Pikachu into the ground. Hard.  
  
"PIKACHU!!" Ash yelled. But Pikachu had remembered Ash's command. Even as it fell to the ground it released a powerful Thundershock, taking the arrogant Houndoom by surprise.  
  
"DDOOM!" It cried as it too fell to the ground gracelessly, landing with a sickening crunch about ten feet from Pikachu.  
  
"HOUNDOOM!" Raul yelled. He could see the smoke coming off of its body, and the crunching sound had mad him fear the worst for his Houndoom.  
  
There was long, anxious pause as neither of the pokemon moved. The humans watched with nervousness. Who would rise? Would any of the pokemon rise?   
  
Miraculously, both of the pokemon began to rise at the same time. To Raul's relief, Houndoom had just landed on and broken a large stick, which had produced the cruching noise. It rose, looking relatively unharmed.  
  
Relative to Pikachu, of course. The Houndoom had managed to hurt it pretty badly; knocking all of the air of it's lungs. It had to struggle to rise, whereas Houndoom had risen and seemed ready to fight back.  
  
"All right!" Raul yelled as his pokemon stood, however unsteadily. "You're the greatest, Houndoom! Quick, use Crunch!"  
  
"Aaah! Pikachu, use Agility!" Ash cried, worried. He had seen Crunch in action. It was not a pleasant attack. Pikachu really needed to get away from there!  
  
Pikachu tried to get back up to it's feet, still panting heavily, but it was still so out of breath, that all it had time to do was look up and see the gaping jaws of the Houndoom.  
  
SNAP!  
  
Ash and Misty had to turn away, unable to bear seeing Crunch in action. But they both knew, from Brock's sharp intake of breath, that it hadn't been good for Pikachu. Ash turned to look at Pikachu, and mimicked Brock's actions.  
  
Poor Pikachu was, once again, falling through the air gracelessly, leaving a trail of blood behind it. However, by some miracle, it managed to land on it's feet; an improvement, though not by much, judging from the way it screamed when it hit the ground.  
  
"PIIIIKAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!"  
  
Ash shuddered at the sound. Misty had hidden her face in Ash's jacket as Houndoom had attacked with Crunch. She had just begun to peek out from behind the collar when Pikachu screamed; she shuddered violently and buried her face in Ash's jacket again.  
  
Now that pikachu was standing still, Ash was able to take stock of it's injuries. As he did, his heart plummeted. Pikachu was bleeding profusely from it's hindquarters, with the skin opened up in a long but relatively shallow gash, the fangs of the Houndoom-large even to us,- had gored the much smaller Pikachu rather badly; judging from its scream as it hit the ground, the fangs had probably either damaged the pelvic bone or dislocated a leg, possibly both. However...  
  
"Piiiika-CHUU!" Wtithout waiting for an order from Ash (wise, as Ash was still in shock), Pikachu fired a Thunderbolt at Houndoom, again taking it by surprise and scoring a critical hit.   
  
"DOOOOOM!!" It cried in surprise and pain, it's knees buckling and it as well falling halfway to the ground, staggering, trying to stand back up again. Raul gasped in awe. That Ash's Pikachu was still standing let alone attacking, was astounding to him; he had never seen a creature with such spunk and spirit.   
  
However, Raul got over his amazement quickly enough to call out to Houndoom. "You've got him right where you want him, Houndoom! Finish it! USE FIRE BLAST!"  
  
...to be continued...  
***  
Hehehehehehe!! I'm evil! I had originally planned for this to be a one-shot fic, but I decided A) I needed more practice with chaptered fics, B) this was getting to be a bit too long for a one-shot, and C) ...I wanted to be evil!!! Muahahahahahaha! Anyways, please read and review this-I'll try to get the next part of the story out soon.   
Plug:  
If you like my work, go read "Poliwhirl's Choice" by Shadowy Knight. That is one of the few Poli-monster fics out there, and it is really, really good! Go read and review! Tell him The GirlieGyarados sent ya!  
End Plug.  
Well, sadly I must leave you all, but until next time, remember: Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers. 


	2. Light Screen

Maturity  
***  
  
A/N: Since I got peeps likin' the first part, I thought I'd attempt to endear myself to the rest of y'all. I mean, Alex Warlorn, the king of critics, liked it; I must be doing something right.  
But, to move along, if you missed the A/N's of last chapter,this is basically my response to all those people who say Ash would never evolve Pikachu. He would, watch and see.  
  
Disclaimer: I own 5 cards, 4 movies, 5 cartriges, 3 plushies, 3 books, 2 posters, 2 board games, 1 avatar, 1 card game mat, 1 coloring book, 1 mini-CD, and 0 rights to Pokemon and all related materials.  
  
Maturity  
-Lightscreen  
***  
  
Ash could only stand by, helpless, as the Houndoom charged forward, dirt flying up behind it, in an incredibly powerful charging Fire Blast. Raul cheered the Houndoom on, as Misty kept her face buried in Ash's jacket, whilst Brock began sweating bullets.  
  
Thump. Thump. Thump. Ash's heart hammered out the rhythm, pounding through his veins, in his temples.  
  
Time seemed to move slower than usual, as the Houndoom galloped towards Pikachu. It's eyes glowed red as it brought its head down and inhaled deeply, step one of Fire Blast. Pikachu growled as sparks began to fly from it's cheeks.  
  
Thump. Thump. Thump.  
  
The Houndoom brought its head up, up and back, as it leapt up into the air. Pikachu closed it's eyes tightly, shaking, as an almost imperceptable golden aura began to flicker up around it.  
  
Thump. Thump. Thump.  
  
Just as the Houndoom reached the zenith of its leap, it snapped it's head down with a bonechilling howl, as fire spilled out of its mouth, forming itself into a star shape, hurtling towards pikachu.  
  
Hound-DOOOOoooooOOOOOooooOOOOMM!!!  
  
"Pi...kaaa...." Pikachu groaned in effort. You see, he could feel the strange golden aura surrounding him, flickering in and out of existence. His conscious mind couldn't figure out what it meant, but his subconsious mind was urging him to keep it up, keep it up as best he could.  
  
"PIKACHU!" Ash cried, as the flames closed the distance between the Houndoom and Pikachu.  
  
"PIKACHUUUUUU!" Pikachu cried, as the gold aura around it flickered.  
  
Off...  
  
On...  
  
Off...  
  
On...  
  
Off..  
  
On...  
  
On...  
  
ON!  
  
A sudden starburst of gold light flashed from the pikachu, blinding the Houndoom as it landed, causing it to stumble. The humans all swept their arms over their eyes to avoid being blinded.   
  
Then, almost as soon as it began, the flash faded away, leaving the humans and hounds blinking wildly, trying to regain their vision as soon as possible.  
  
Ash and the Houndoom were the first to recover their sight, and both gasped with what they saw. (well, technically, the Houndoom barked in surprise, but whaddaya gonna do?) Brock and Raul followed a few seconds later, Raul yelling in shock and Brock looking both pleased and slightly awed.  
  
"No WAY!" yelled Raul staring at Pikachu in open mouthed shock. "NO MUTHERFUCKING WAY!" Pikachu's golden aura had faded, but his aura of strength had not.  
  
Because it was not burned.  
  
No smoke, no stench, no blackened fur, no hiss of steam, no blood.  
  
Fire Blast had- somehow, someway- not harmed Pikachu as it swept over the rodent. Somehow, someway, it had been blocked.  
  
"THUNDER!" screamed Ash. Now was not the time for weeping, for congratulations, for hallelujahs. Now was the time to win!  
  
"PIIIIKA...CHU!"  
  
Electricity danced through the air, sweeping along the polarized particles of water in the air, sweeping along and vaporizing them, as the plasma arcs gracefully, beautifully, split the air and damned the Houndoom.  
***  
A/N: And....there goes another chapter! Hee hee hee, I love torturing you all with shorties! And cliffies! Well, I suppose I shall leave you now, since I don't have a good Fic of the Day. Now, buhbye, and remember: "It takes a *special* kind of idiot to drop Roget's Thesaurus on his balls" -me 


End file.
